I’m sure you have seen and maybe heard cowboys in American films and on TV, but did you know that American cowboys have their own dialect or way of speaking? Well, they do. Today I thought I’d teach you some common cowboy phrases and sayings so that you can understand cowboy-speak next time you hear it. So saddle up partner, because here we go!

Cowboy vocabulary:

howdy = hi

howdy partner = hi there friend

ya’ll = all of youya = yougiddy up = let’s go (often said while riding to a horse)

Head ’em up, move ’em out. = Let’s go. (Let’s move these cattle.)a dude = a person who tries to dress like and talk like a cowboy, but really is a city personwet your whistle = have a drink (usually alcohol)hoedown = a dancea half-wit = a stupid personcity-slicker = a person from the citytenderfoot or greenhorn = a new personhoosegow or calaboose= jailnamby-pamby = not bravepony up = hurry upskedaddle = get out of herethe jig is up = the game is over; the truth has been exposedHe’s a goner. = He’s dead.by hook or crook = any way possiblein cahoots = doing something in secretyokel = a person from the country (not the city)yonder = over theresaloon = bar/restaurant

Now, here is a brief conversation between two cowboys that uses some of this vocabulary from above to help you put these phrases in context.

A: Howdy.B: Howdy partner.
A: Are you going down to wet your whistle at the saloon tonight?B: Not me, that saloon over yonder is full of namby-pamby city slickers. I don’t go there anymore. I’m going to the hoedown tonight.
A: By hook or crook I think I’ll join ya! I’m tired of being around all those dudes at the saloon.B: Well, we better head ’em up and move ’em out and get back to town. Pony up!
A: Giddy up, I’m right behind ya’.

Hi there! I am one of Transparent Language's ESL bloggers. I am a 32-year-old native English speaker who was born and raised in the United States. I am living in Washington, DC now, but I have lived all over the US and also spent many years living and working abroad.
I started teaching English as a second language in 2005 after completing a Master's in Applied Linguists and a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults' (CELTA). Since that time I have taught ESL in the United States at the community college and university level. I have also gone on to pursue my doctorate in psychology and now I also teach courses in psychology.
I like to stay connected to ESL learners around the world through Transparent Languages ESL Blog. Please ask questions and leave comments on the blog and I will be sure to answer them.

great post … is there any site where i can improve my listening skills .. I am a movie buff and having difficulty to follow dialogue which has contraction like these what’d that’d when’d why’d where’d when’ve when’s there’ll John’ll
native speaker do use them a lot i wish to condition my ear to follow them in movie so i need kinda listening material where i could sharpen my listening

Thanks this helped but who or what is y’all’s source? You know when doing anything sources are very important. I know you don’t need a source if something is common knowledge but I was just wondering what your source was.

I loved reading this. As a young girl I’d fantasize about being a cowgirl and watched all the Western TV shows. Bonanza, The Big Valley, and High Chaparral, were my favorites. I loved some of the words used like, ” dadburnit”, varmint, critter, mite, Sam Hill, dang, plumb, thunderation, vittles, yonder, gringo, skeddadle, !Aribba, Arriba! !Andale, Andale!, reckon, fixin, fetch, git, chuckwagon, buckaroo, vaquero, and many more! I’m fixin to lose some weight, so I can go out and buy me some new duds and boots. I’m much older now, but dadburnit; I reckon I can still pull it off!

Out in these parts, my favorite thing is to wear my shit-kickers, drive my rig down to my favorite honky-tonk, do a little boot-scootin’, talk a little bull with friends, throw back a Bud and leave before the cows come home.